Jeanette & I were discussing the values of roasts today. We are on our summer cut sheet schedule of using our chuck for more steaks and ground chuck for tasty tasty burgers.

She kept asking me what cut makes a fall aart cut like the chuck. I kept telling her brisket and she was all ” But its so expensive!” And I was all teenage Groot attitude saying ” No it’s not”. It is in fact 50 cents a pound more. With a 5 lb roast that is $2.50. But guys there is no bone unlike the chuck & the roast is bigger. HELLO LEFTOVERVILLE … Maybe I shouldn’t write blog posts after hanging out with Jeanette.

Our Briskets are amazing and this summer I will put my not so famous not so secret K.C. Style Smoked Brisket recipe up this summer. I hope life’s a bit nuts at the moment so I’m not cooking anything other than basics lately.

Brisket Tostada

While our NCF Chuck roasts are $8.75 per lb our Brisket is $9.25 per lb. We have used this recipe for parties. Shred and place out buns, tostadas , tacos, salads, on mashed potatoes and just as a dinner roast. And I’m really craving it after writing this. As we run low on Chuck roasts this summer please give this tasty recipe a try.

Tails, Fat Back( what you use for lard), Liver, Heart , & Feet are now all in stock in .

Prices

Tails- $4.50 per pound- Not only a great for pets but also great for stews and veggies.

Fat Back $4 per pound if you want lard or to make your own soap this fat is gold.

Liver-$4 per pound liverwurst, Scrapple or liver pudding you know you want to make your own this summer to go with all those fresh garden veggies. We have a few books in the store to steal some recipes out of for these dishes

Heart- $2.99 per pound great for adventurous eaters (slice and cook like a steak) or for pets

Feet- $2.50 per pound. These are my secret ingredient to so many dishes. I smoke them then add them to beans, collards and pork bone broth. Oh yes, pork broth should be its own magical food group.

Ears-$4 per pound. Not just a great dog treat, these are also my favorite bar food. I braise these till tender (280 F in a dutch oven for 2 hours) then slice and fry.

Neck Bone-$4 per pound try a new flavor of bone broth. If you love beans this will add an extra depth of flavor to them.

Finally Raw Goats Milk ($5 per 1/2 gallon) is back in the store on Fridays and Saturdays. The supply will be limited. Please let Lucy know by Monday if you need an order. Several of the area veterinarians in the area have suggested this for orphaned pets or pets going through medical issues such as Chemo or on raw food diets. Please check with your own veterinarians to see if this is right for you.

We haven’t made too big of a deal about it yet, but we will now. Brittany Ridge Farms now has Turkey Breast. This means the NCF Store now has Turkey Breast. SWMBO & I have had some fun filling our families bellies with these wonders. Now I have to share. Even if I don’t want to share.

The one thing I try to keep out of my house is processed lunch meat. I try to make a bit extra at dinner for a light lunch for us for the next day. Somehow there are rarely leftovers on meat though no matter how hard I try. This means that once or twice a week I make an extra roast. Or if I make a Turkey Breast then my family has plenty of meat left over for a few sandwiches. And as much as my family loves the Herb Butter Recipe from Thanksgiving I prefer something a bit different from time to time.

The one thing we still need to do with Turkey though is Brine. Turkey is just too low in fat through the muscle to make it a moist meat without Brining. I recommend that you simply make the Brince the night before drop your Turkey Breast in it. Then cook it the next day the perfect brine time is somewhere between 12-23 hours. Some folks I know do a 36 hour brine, I only recommend this if you are using a bird that hasn’t had time to properly rest after being harvested. Brine is a simple recipe 4 tablespoons of Kosher Salt to 4 cups of water.

Turkey Breast is sold in the NCF store for $10 per lb. The breasts weigh between 2.5-3 lbs. I usually get a dinner and 2 days of sandwiches for my family of 3. I then use the carcass to make soup. Waste not Want not.

Alarita Dry Rub is now a constant in my kitchen. I’ve gone through 2 bottles in the past year. I use it for roast vegetables and meats alike. It is a solid product at $8 a bottle. It take a ho hum green bean or eggplant to “ooooo green bean & eggplant”. The tiny bit of brown sugar in it balances the flavor for herby flavor.

Folks you have blown through our Chicken Freezer this winter. Poor Christy at Brittany Ridge Farms cannot keep up. Normally winter is a downtime for chicken. This year you fine folks said, “NOPE!”.

Since this burst of chicken flying off the shelves has hit I have been bombarded with emails and texts. “Why is my chicken tough? Chicken from XYZ store is never tough” At first I was perplexed, then I asked how it was cooked. Now this is where I giggle. 350 is not the magic oven on the oven folks. It seems that is the go to temperature that most folks set their oven at. Please stop cooking everything at 350.

You see chicken at XYZ regular ol’ grocery store is pre-brined. It is pumped full of a saline solution. This tenderizes the muscles & weighs more per pound for the grocer. This also allows for the water to cook the chicken at a lower temperature. Having less moisture in it to begin with our chicken requires a higher cooking temperature. Brittany Ridge pasture raises their birds allowing them free reign over what they eat. They are given access to a milled grain with 21 % protein from Statesville. Keep it local folks.

Beef & Pork Roasts= 280 F, roughly 1 hour per pound.

Chicken skin on bone in should be cooked at 425F unless it is whole. Then we have some fun. With a whole chicken you want to start off with a hot oven at 475F then after 20 minutes drop down to 425F for the remaining time. How long though is up to the state of the chicken. Completely defrosted 50-60 minutes. You want the thickest part of the chicken to reach 165F. This is not negotiable.

There is trick though to help insure super crispy skin, dry off the chicken thoroughly first with paper towels. You do not need oil or any thing else.

For crispy all the way around I suggest. lining a sheet pan with tinfoil then place a cooling rack in it.

Below are prices and cooking times, remember they vary on size and temperature when going in.

For the price I recommend Quarters-at $5 per lb= 40-45 min ,2 per pack. Each person receives 1 as a serving,

Drumsticks- at $6.50 per lb = 30-35 minutes 4 per pack typically.

Thighs-at $6.50 per lb ( they are currently out of stock),= 30-35 min. 3-4 per pack. Each person receives 2 as a serving.

Has Taco Tuesday been a regular event in your household for years? It has been in mine. Our daughter loves Taco Tuesday. We do a variety of tacos, fajitas, & enchiladas to keep up variety. Rutabaga never realized that Taco Tuesday was an actual thing until the Lego Movie came out. Now that she knows it is a thing she is try to also get a Taco Thursday on the schedule every week. Some weeks I give in. My tween could eat tacos at every meal.

One of the things that I like to do is avoid spice packets. High Blood Pressure and Heart disease run through my family like the Mississippi. Those nice little flavor packets at the grocery store are easily reproducible at home with an even better flavor. And the great news is that you can control the sodium. While I love Pinterest for their recipes I hate the “packet of this, packet of that” recipes. When you look at the sodium suddenly you’re eating a weeks worth of sodium in one sitting. Eeek! In the NCF store we sell the taco shells for $5.75 per pack.

Let’s talk taco shells for just a moment. While the filling of the taco is important so is the shell. Typically I prefer soft shell, however we recently began carrying Mamacita’s Taco Shells. You know those yummy Tortilla Chips that we carry. They’re now making them into Taco Shells.

This recipe is simple just use quality ingredients. Ground Beef in the NCF store is $7.99 a lb. Ground Chuck (if you want a steak flavor) is $8.75 lb. Both of these grounds run fairly low fat. I do not drain off the fat. I’m a believer that fat is what makes your brain release the hormones to let you know to quit eating.

Are you ready for round 2 of Winter Blast? Farmer’s Almanac told us this would be a brutal winter and they were not lying. In the depth of the cold, comfort foods and soups call my name. “Lucy, we’ll keep you warm and cozy.” Ahh warming soups, just a bit of added spice to warm you up after the outdoor cold.

Butternut Squash Bisque is a classic bisque. Thick, velvety and nutritious for you as well. The past few weeks I have stared at this squash on my counter, now it is time to cook it. The twist is I’m adding Celebrity Dairy Goat Cheese to the mix, sold in the NCF store for $5 a tub. The nice thing about Butternut Squash, is that you can mix it up with just about any of the Celebrity Dairy savory goat cheese flavors and it will turn out delicious. I definitely would not do the chocolate or mango though.

For added texture I with the bisque, I recommend Accidental Baker Crackers. The NCF Store Carries them in 3 Flavors Garlic & Rosemary, Sea Salt, and Black Pepper and Salt. These crackers are locally made and taste great.

Whew, that cold snap was a doozy. If you have never had to worry about keep animal waterers free of ice let me tell it is not fun. We are all thankful it is over. However it is only the 2nd week in January which means after a short reprieve we will be back to cold weather before long. And that is where Egg Drop Soup comes in. It is plentiful and warms the body from the inside.

There is only a single photo of my dish. I simply threw it up on my personal facebook wall and poof lots of folks wanted the recipe. My message box blew up. I figured I probably needed to put it on here for our clients.

With this being such a simple dish I recommend using the best ingredients meaning homemade broth. Try out Farmer Dan’s recipe. And of course use Farm Fresh Eggs just $4.25 a dozen.

Rabbit is becoming more of a mainstay among the American diet. I have started seeing several friends posting that they are having rabbit for dinner. When my family dines out we are seeing it on the menu more often. Why? Rabbit is a great hardy animal to raise for meat. The best part is it’s the healthiest meat & most environmentally friendly meat you can buy. We just have to overcome the idea of what is in your head.

Cassoulet comes to use from France named for its cooking vessel. You can use any meat to make this versatile dish. Duck, Rabbit, Chicken , Beef, & Pork can all be used. (If using red meat switch to Pinot Noir and add 2 Tablespoons of Tomato Paste). If you need to make it fast use 2 cans of beans and lower the amount of of liquids to 1 cup wine & 1 cup broth. If using chicken then use chicken broth instead of beef. If I was only only allowed 1 meal it would be Rabbit Cassoulet. The scent of this dish stayed in my house overnight, making me wish I had more of it to eat for breakfast.

Rabbit runs in the NCF Store for $10.50 per lb. Each rabbit weighs between 2.5 lbs and 3.5 lbs. If we hadn’t had friends over for dinner this easily would have fed our family for several meals. In this dish we also use NCF Italian Mild Sausage which sells for $10 per lb. The rabbit and sausage pair perfectly together giving a great flavor profile.